


The Only Way

by gurkenpflaster



Series: 1 in 14 Million [1]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Avengers: Endgame Fix-It, But he is their idiot, Cover Art, Drpepperony - Freeform, F/M, M/M, Multi, OT3, Stephen is an idiot, they're all idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-02-07 09:09:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18617551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gurkenpflaster/pseuds/gurkenpflaster
Summary: After Tony snaps to make Thanos and his army disappear, Stephen Strange can save his life, yet the price is high: Tony falls into a coma, and no doctor can help.Two months later Strange visits Pepper Potts and tells her he found a way to cure Tony. But to succeed he needs her help.





	1. The Proposition

**Author's Note:**

> This story is mostly my way of coping with the end of Endgame. I hope it helps you too.

 

"Why me? Why would you come to me of all people?" Pepper's tone of voice is bitter. She had disliked the doctor from the first moment he turned up on this fateful day in the park – the day when a world ended for her, five long years ago.

"Because he loves you." Agitated, Strange paces up and down her office, like a caged animal.

"Why would that matter?"

"Because that's how this spell works." He stops, looks at her. "It is an unbelievable powerful healing spell, but it can only be performed by a person who loves the other person. And it must be mutually. The 'he loves you' is just as important as the 'you love him' to make it work."

She stares at him, contemplating.

"Do you doubt your love for him?" he asks.

The question makes her angry.

"No certainly not! But I know nothing about magic."

"I will teach you. It is a very complicated spell, but it is our best shot."

Against her will, hope flares up in her. She had sworn to herself that she would not resort to healers, holy men or other quacks when academic medicine would fail them to cure Tony's condition.

But now she had the "Sorcerer Supreme" in her office, and all he asked in return for bringing Tony back to life was that she performed the magic herself.

She was so endlessly tired.

It had been two months.

Two months of visiting Tony at the hospital every day just to sit helplessly beside his lifeless body.

Two months of telling Morgan her daddy would wake up soon and knowing this was a lie.

Two months of coordinating the help efforts provided by Stark Industries and the Maria Stark Foundation to a world whose population had doubled again overnight.

Deep down, she knows it's unfair, but she blames the man in front of her desk for all this. She is aware that ultimately Thanos was the one who caused the catastrophe that had afflicted the whole universe for five years, but she can't let go of the fact that the sorcerer had been the one who sacrificed Tony's life like a chess piece in the game for the fate of the cosmos.

He starts to pace again like a maniac. "Listen. This spell, if performed correctly, will reverse the complete damage the stones have done. At least in theory. We could even save his arm! ...maybe. I'm not sure about that since they had to amputate it."

Her resolve starts to crumble. She wants Tony back so desperately. With one last look at the sorcerer, she makes her decision.

"When do we start?"

"Do you have a babysitter for tonight?" is his only answer.


	2. The First Lesson

"Listen, I don't like that." Happy sits on the sofa while he watches Morgan drawing at the coffee table. "We know nothing about the guy. I don't want you to go with him alone."

"I have talked to Peter. What he told me indicates that Strange's story is legit. He's not some crazy mass murderer who's going to dismember me in his basement." She whispers the last sentence to avoid Morgan from hearing it.

Happy strokes her arm. "I don't want him to give you false hope just to disappoint you in the end."

"I'm a big girl, Happy. I can take care of myself."

"Yeah. I know that. I'm just worried."

"Happy, you've heard the doctors. From a medical perspective, Tony should be dead. They don't know how to deal with that. Even Carol Danvers' space medicine is useless this time. We're running out of options – and if this thing has a chance to succeed – I couldn't live with myself if I didn't even try it."

Happy smiles at her and nods. "Just don't be too disappointed if it doesn't work out, yeah?"

She lays her hand on his. "Thank you, Happy. What would I do without you?"

Tenderly, he pulls her into a hug.

The golden shine of a portal announces the arrival of a sorcerer. After a moment, they realize surprised that it is not Strange who's stepping through it.

"Good evening. We're sorry, but Stephen couldn't make it. His obligations as the Sorcerer Supreme require more of his attention than expected, these days." Wong waves and grins awkwardly. "I'm here to fill in for him."

"That's a good start..." Happy grumbles.

"Don't listen to him, Wong." Pepper walks over to shake his hand. "Good to see you again. It's been a while."

In fact, the last time she saw the sorcerer was at the wedding.

"Yes, I guess we've been all busy in the last five years."

She nods.

"Shall we?" he asks, pointing towards the portal.

"Of course. Just a little moment." Quickly, she walks over to Morgan, to kneel beside her daughter.

"Who is that, mummy?"

"That's Wong. He is a friend of daddy."

The little girl looks shyly up at the sorcerer.

"I'm going with him now, but I'll be back later. You stay here with Happy, okay?"

Morgan nods hesitantly, and Pepper kisses her forehead after she hugged her. She returns to Wong.

"Good night," she whispers, before crossing the portal with Wong. On the other side lies a big room full of bookshelves where someone had dragged some tables and chairs out of the way to create a patch of free space.

Wong pulls two cushions from a sideboard and throws them there.

"Please, make yourself comfortable."

With a look around, she follows his request, and he takes a seat on the other cushion.

"First of all, welcome to the Sanctum Sanctorum. We're currently in our library, which I selected as the location of this first lesson."

"What's the real reason Strange isn't here?" she interrupts him.

"I'm not allowed to go into details, but he hasn't been well since his return."

Now that Wong had mentioned that, Pepper remembers how pale and gaunt the sorcerer had looked during their conversation in the morning.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know. If I didn't know him any better, I'd say he's heartbroken."

"Did the loss of the time stone hit him so hard?" she asks coldly.

Wong smiles a sad little smile. "No, this is not about the time stone. In a way, he seems to be relieved it's gone..." He claps his hands together. "But enough of that, you're here to get an introduction into the mystic arts."

"I thought I'd have to learn one particular spell?" she wonders.

"Well, yes, but before that, you have to learn some basics."

"What? We don't have time for this! Tony is dying!"

Wong stares at her, estimating how much he can tell her without frightening her too much. "Strange didn't tell you about possible side-effects if anything goes wrong, right?"

"No, he didn't."

"It is crucial we get this right because if not, it could kill you and Tony."

Pepper draws a sharp breath. Strange, that bastard, he would have sacrificed her without a second thought – just as he did with Tony.

"...it could also kill Stephen," Wong continues.

This statement gets her attention.

"Why?" she asks. "What does this have to do with him?"

"It is his magic that is keeping Tony alive currently. They are connected, and if something goes wrong, it will affect him as well. That's another reason he is in such bad shape currently."

That gives her a lot to think about. Could it be she jumped to conclusions and judged the sorcerer to harshly?

"He didn't mention that either," is all she says.

"Yeah. Self-sacrificing idiot. I think you have experience with the type." He grins.

"Just too much."

"I think..." he muses, "in another life, they would have been the best of friends."

At this moment Pepper feels a tremendous loss for all the things that never had been, and she doesn't fully understand why, but she vows to herself that she'd do everything in her power to make up for all this missed opportunities.

 

The rest of the evening Wong introduces her into the basics of the mystic arts: How sorcerers use spells to harness power from other dimensions and all of that.

It is early morning when she finally retunes home, her head buzzing with all the new information she just learned.

...and not everything is about magic.


	3. The Five Years of Happiness

Pepper uses the next morning to organize plenty of things: After three short hours of sleep, she had decided that she needs a couple of days in which she could fully commit to learning magic with Wong.

The sorcerer had assured her it would be no problem if she wanted to stay at the Sanctum as long as she wanted, so she is willing to take the offer.

Happy and Rhodey have agreed to take care of Morgan and Bruce would take her place at the Maria Stark Foundation.

After explaining to Morgan why she had to stay with Uncle Happy and Uncle Rhodey for a couple of days, she kisses her goodbye.

"You can always call me. At any time. But I have to go to help daddy."

"Can I come with you and help daddy too?"

Pepper has to fight the tears, looking at her little girl, determined to help.

"Another time, yes?"

"But I want to!"

Pepper doesn't know what to answer, so she hugs her tightly.

"Promise me to take care of Uncle Rhodey while I'm gone, okay?"

"Okay."

With a heavy heart, she tears herself away from Morgan and nods at Rhodey.

"Hope to see you soon."

He nods back and takes Morgan's hand into his.

 

A short time later she arrives at 177a Bleecker Street to realize she had never seen the Sanctum from the outside. It looks disappointingly ordinary.

She heads to the front door and rings the bell.

The person who opens the door isn't Wong. It's not even a person, but a floating red cape. Then, she remembers what Tony had told her about Strange's sentient cloak. At the time she thought it was a joke.

"Hello, nice to meet you," she greets.

The cloak bows to her and motions her to come inside.

"Are you alone? Where is everyone?"

Its answer is best described as a shrug. It wraps itself around Pepper's suitcase to carry it upstairs, down a hallway into a cozy little room.

"That's my room?"

The cloak nods after it set down the suitcase gently on the bed.

"What now?"

Excitedly, the cloak grabs her hand with one of its corners and pulls her with it. They end up in front of a door on the third floor. The cloak opens it and holds it for her.

Behind the door lies the library. Pepper expects to find Wong there, but it is Strange who sits on a table by the window.

Surprised he looks up.

"Oh! I didn't know you were coming so early. How did you get in?"

"The cloak let me in."

Strange looks from her to the red fabric.

"Consider yourself honored. There are not many people it likes."

Hastily he stands up and offers her his hand, scarred, and shaking as it was.

"Great to see you again, Ms. Potts ...or Mrs. Stark?"

"Pepper is fine."

"I'm Stephen."

"I know," she answers.

An awkward silence follows.

He walks to a bookshelf on the wall. Pepper follows him.

"Where shall we begin?" he asks.

"Why didn't you tell me about the complications of the spell?" she asks directly.

"Wong told you about that..."

"Indeed."

"Listen, you don't have to worry about the complications. I'd rather die myself than let you or Tony be harmed."

"Why would you care? You don't know me, and you've known him for how long? A day?"

He turns around, to glare at her in anger.

"I have known Tony Stark for 6,725 years! And I've seen him die over 14 Million times!"

Shocked, she looks at him.

"What?"

"On Titan, before the battle against Thanos, I used the Time Stone find out what future lay ahead of us. I searched 14,000,605 possible outcomes."

"Yes, Tony told me that you looked into the future."

He nods with a bitter grin. "Problem is: That's not how the time stone works. You don't just look into the future. To know a possible future, you have to live it. Live, die, repeat – over and over."

She clasps her hand over her mouth. Merely the thought of what his words implicate scares her.

"In all these possibilities I found no way to prevent Thanos from obtaining the stone."

"Why didn't you try to run away?"

"We did. But there was no corner in the universe far enough that he or his minions didn't find us. Sometimes we managed to hide for years, but in the end, they always got us. Our all-time record was about five years."

He rubs a tear out of the corner of his eye.

"That one was a particularly nasty death – not to say that any of those deaths were funny. But Tony – he always fought with all he had to give, until the bitter end. Reckless idiot! How could I not have fallen in love with him?"

Pepper feels like someone pulled the rug beneath her feet. Strange was in love with Tony?

She looks at the sorcerer who is no longer able to hold back the tears. With his back against the wall, he slides down to sit the floor.

"Imagine how it felt to realize the only way to save the universe is to sacrifice the person you love most."

He looks up at her.

"You say this is all my fault. Don't tell me you're not thinking that!" Bitterly, he nods. "You're right. I wasn't good enough – I wasn't strong enough. I didn't try hard enough finding this one perfect solution. It had to be somewhere out there, and I lack the imagination to find it."

"Maybe this here is it, you know – the perfect solution," Pepper suggests. "It's not all lost yet."

She looks down into his beautiful blue-gray eyes, wet with tears.

At this moment she realizes that he would lose as much as she does when Tony dies. Maybe even more because people will feel sorry for her, but nobody is going to understand his grief.

She sits down beside him.

"All things considered, Tony and I have been fortunate – we haven't lost many of our friends in the snap. We married, we got a wonderful daughter and the cabin by the lake... It wasn't always easy, but all in all, we had five years of happiness. Is it greedy that I want more?"

He stares long at her, pondering what to answer.

"No, I don't think so. That five years of happiness with him – I got them too, you know. We were on the run from Thanos, but we had our strange version of a happy family, with Peter and the Guardians... and Tony, who loved me back." He looks at her, tears streaming down his face. "Five years, that's more than most people get, but it will never be enough. I understand there won't be more for me, but the two of you deserve all the time in the world."

"Why just us? Aren't you jealous?"

"How could I? He told me so much about you. Somewhere along the line, I too fell in love with you. At least his version of you. I loved how much he loved you and had still so much love left for me."

He smiles to himself, and for a moment he looks so young and soft that she wants to hug him.

After a second, he seems to catch himself and his expression changes to the neutral mask he's always wearing.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you that. Please forget it."

Without looking back at her, he flees the room, leaving her on her own to deal with the chaos of her feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. This chapter wasn't easy to write. I cried. A lot – which is awkward since I did the final proofreading in my lunch break at work. 😂  
> 


	4. The Magic of Love

It is Wong, who finds her eventually. She just sat there and stared into the room until he entered the library. Cautiously, he crouches down and taps her shoulder.

"He is in love with him..." she murmurs.

"Who?"

"Strange. He's in love with Tony."

"I know." Wong bows his head. "How much did he tell you?"

"Pretty much everything, I guess."

He nods. "Listen, I know that all a is a lot for you to wrap your head around, but we have no time for that now. So, why don't you come to the kitchen with me? I'll brew a nice cup of tea for you, and afterward, we continue our training?"

Hesitantly, she nods.

 

The rest of the day they spend practicing some basic spells, and when Pepper finally manages to open a portal in the evening, Wong looks at her proudly.

"I think, that's enough for today. You should rest now."

She wants to hand him the sling ring, but he pushes it back into her hand.

"No, keep it. It is yours now. You never know when it will come in handy." He winks at her. "Tomorrow you will begin learning the healing spell with Stephen."

"Not with you?" she asks, bewildered.

"No. He insists."

That surprises Pepper. Since their conversation in the morning, she has been under the impression that Strange was actively avoiding her. The man drifts through the Sanctum like a ghost and every time she entered a room he's in, he has left.

Wong notices her confusion. "Don't ask me why. I don't know what's going on in this head of his anymore. I barely recognize the man who came back from Titan." With sad eyes, he takes a stack of books and leaves. "Good night, Pepper."

 

In the morning, a soft nudge wakes Pepper up. When she opens her eyes, waves of red fabric fill her field of view.

"Morning," she mumbles, patting the cloak.

It hugs her, and floats out of the room, while she gazes after it. "What a weird alarm clock."

On her way to the bathroom, she meets Strange. His generally meticulous styled hair is an unruly mob of black and white curls. Besides a pair of soft looking blue pajama bottoms, he wears a threadbare gray t-shirt inside out, and his bare feet make slapping sounds on the old hardwood floors. She can't help but think he's adorable like this, so wonderfully human without his usual armor made from the mysteries that surround him.

He looks at her and makes the futile attempt to put his hair in order. "Morning."

"Morning," she answers.

With shaking fingers, he points to the end of the corridor. "Bathroom's that way."

"I know, Wong told me."

"Oh, good ...good. I think he's making breakfast... so, just come to the kitchen, when you're done."

"Yes, sure. That's nice," she replies.

"Yeah, you're special. He never makes breakfast for me!" he exclaims, pretending to pout.

That makes her laugh.

With a big grin, he looks at her. After a moment, the cloak comes flying and wraps itself around Strange.

"My services are needed. See you in a few minutes."

Without waiting for her response, the cloak carries him away, leaving her to stare after them.

 

It takes them three days of practice until Pepper gets the spell right.

While she tries her best to concentrate on the task at hand, she still notices how Stephen grows more tired from day to day. He does his best to hide it from her, but the shadows under his eyes, that are constantly getting darker, tell a different story.

The more Pepper learns about Strange, the more he grows on her. The brief glimpses she can catch behind his mask of the Sorcerer Supreme intrigue her: He's witty, funny, sarcastic, with razor-sharp intellect but also selfless like no one else she met before. Well, maybe with one exception.

When he tells her she is ready, she asks him if they go to Tony right away, but he shakes his head.

"You'll need a lot of strength for this. You should rest first – and eat."

She wants to protest, but he doesn't let her.

"Listen, I know you want to save him as fast as possible. I get that. I really do. But you won't help him when you run out of energy while performing this spell. Yes, his condition is critical, but it is stable, I'm taking care of that. You should take the evening off, rest, maybe visit your family, and in the morning we go to Tony, understood?"

Pepper nods slowly. The thought of visiting Morgan and Rhodey is indeed lovely. She misses her little girl so much, so she accepts Stephen's offer to portal her to them.

 

Only when she arrives at Rhodey's place, she realizes how late it is – way past Morgan's bedtime. The stay in the Sanctum had blurred her sense of time more than she expected.

"Hey, you! How's it going?" Rhodey greets her.

Pepper tells him about the last few days and their plans for the next morning.

"So tomorrow, hu?" He had gotten them a drink, which Pepper refused. (Alcohol probably wasn't a good idea right now.)

"Yes." She runs her hands through her hair and props up her elbows on her thighs.

"...and this plan, it'll work?"

She shrugs. "Either it does, or we'll lose Tony forever."

He hesitates. "Do you want me to be there, tomorrow?"

"Maybe not there in the hospital room, but it would be great if you could wait nearby. I might need someone."

"So the little princess and I will take our breakfast in the hospital cafeteria and wait for your call." He smiles.

"Thank you."

After that, she bids her farewell and opens a portal to the Sanctum with her new sling ring.

"Woah!" Rhodey cries. "And you can keep that thing?"

She nods.

"That's almost worth this whole mess!"

She knows, of course, he's joking, she has known him long enough, so she just rolls her eyes and leaves.

 

When she steps through the portal, Stephen, who sits on his desk in the library, looks up from his book.

"Oh. You're back already?"

"Yes, It's late. I let them sleep. I mean, I'll see them tomorrow, won't I?"

"Sure." He nods.

"I'll head to bed, then." She moves to the exit.

"Did you eat something?" he calls after her.

She stops. "Not really."

"Are you hungry?"

"Yes, I am."

Hastily, he puts his book aside and joins her. "Shall we see what we can find in the kitchen?"

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea."

What they find is sobering: "There is a packet of Italian breadsticks, a glass nacho cheese sauce and two packs of instant ramen noodles."

Disappointed, Stephen holds up his miserable findings after frisking the kitchen cabinets. "Looks like Wong forgot to do the shopping. Or was it my turn?"

Pepper sits on the table in the middle of the kitchen and beams at him. "Sounds like an absolute feast."

"Back in the day, when I was a poor medical student, this would have been a feast, indeed," he jokes.

 

A couple of minutes later they sit together on the bench on the roof terrace of the Sanctum and gaze into the New York night. Each of them has a bowl of noodle soup and the breadsticks between them.

In a corner, the Cloak of Levitation floats and watches them.

"So, why don't you try performing the spell? You love him," Pepper asks eventually.

"But he doesn't love me. Remember, that part's important, too. I might have been in love with him for nearly seven thousand years, but from his perspective, we've known each other for a day. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if he still harbors some resentment against me for giving up the stone on Titan."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that – I mean, you're right, he hated you after Titan, but five years is a long time to hold a grudge." She empties her bowl with a slurp.

"But I'm not a sorcerer. Let's face it: I'm the weakest point of your plan."

"That's not how I would describe you."

"Then how would you describe me?" she asks, grabbing a breadstick and dipping it into the cheese sauce.

He looks at her, thinks for a moment. "You are an incredibly strong person, but most people don't see that. You are always organized, a harbor of calm and order in the middle of the storm. You are as pragmatic as you are compassionate. You do what needs to be done – like putting on an Iron Man armor and throwing yourself into a battle without knowing you'll make it back, to guarantee your daughter will have a future." His smile gets watery. "You are the perfect person for him. You are perfect, period."

She puts down the breadstick and moves closer to him.

Confused, he looks at her. "What are you...?"

Before he can finish the question, she pulls him in into a hug. "...doing what needs to be done."

It takes a moment until he reciprocates the embrace, but when he does, she can hear him snivel softly. Gently, she strokes his back and tightens her grip around him.

"Shhh... let go," she whispers in his ear. "Let go; I've got you. It's going to be okay. I promise."

Finally, he starts sobbing without restraint. She holds him all the time and rocks him gently.

When he eventually breaks the contact, he looks drained, but relieved.

"Thank you," he says sheepishly.

"You're welcome." She caresses his cheek and enjoys the way he leans into the touch.

Hesitant, he puts his hand over hers. "We should go to bed – get some sleep. Tomorrow is an important day."

Reluctantly, he tears himself away from her and stands up. She does the same, and the cloak shoots out of its corner, to wrap itself around her shoulders.

Stephen accompanies her to her room, where they part. The cloak floats back to him and waves at Pepper.

While she closes the door behind her, she can sense the longing look of the sorcerer and has to fight the impulse to run to him to pull him into her arms again.

 

The next morning, they teleport to the hospital, both of them brimming with nervous energy. Stephen brings them directly into Tony's hospital room, where one of the doctors is already waiting for them.

"Morning, Christine," Stephen greets.

The doctor turns to him, a nervous smile on her face. "Listen, Stephen... I thought about this the whole night, and I'm really not sure this is a good idea!"

"Why?"

"What if something goes wrong? This is against all hospital regulations. I could lose my job! You know I like my job!"

"Christine." He tries to calm her down.

"...Hell, if his family decides to sue me, I will never find another job ever again!"

"Christine! His family won't sue you," he assures her and nods towards Pepper.

"How can you be so sure about..." Christine finally recognizes Pepper. "... Mrs. Stark?"

"Christine, that is Pepper Potts-Stark, as you noticed," Stephen introduces, "and this is Dr. Christine Palmer, an old friend of mine. She will help us in case of a medical emergency."

"That's not very reassuring," Pepper notes.

"Just a safety precaution, nothing else."

Pepper takes a deep breath and turns to Tony. Even if she by now is pretty used to the sight, it still hurts her to see him this way: With all the tubes and wires attached to his half-burned body.

"Ready?" Stephen asks.

She nods.

Pepper sits down beside Tony's bed, Stephen behind her with one hand on her shoulder, while Dr. Palmer stands aside to watch them.

"Remember, what we decided: First we repair the fatal damage, then we move on to the damage, that would cause him the most pain, everything else, including the arm, is on the bottom of our priority list."

She nods. Carefully, she puts her hand on the spot of Tony's chest where the arc reactor had been. She concentrates and can feel Tony's life force flowing through the burnt, scarred body.

"He's so very weak."

"Yes, but you need to concentrate! Go deeper, find the damage and repair it, as we rehearsed," he directs her softly.

They had practiced on a magical simulation Stephen used to conjure up, but this was something completely different.

"This is different," she says.

"I know. It is something else entirely doing this on a real, living person."

"Is there the sorcerer speaking, or the doctor?"

He snickers. "Both."

With all the energy she can muster, she advances to the core of the damage.

"Very good," Stephen praises her. "Now heal it, as I showed you."

It is so much harder than in their training sessions. Even healing the tiniest bit of tissue requires incredible amounts of energy from her.

"I don't think I can..." she starts, but then she feels Stephen pouring his own life force into her.

"You will, I believe in you."

Together they repair the damage to Tony's organs and muscles before they move on to the charred skin that covers the entity of the right side of his body. Even his leg is burned.

"You are doing this great," Stephen whispers, the exhaustion in his voice apparent. "We're nearly done. Take his skin, make it smooth again, as it was before. Picture the texture in your mind, the tiny, little hairs, the freckles, the moles. Remember, how it felt under your fingers when it was whole. Concentrate on the feeling, and the magic will make it real."

Little by little the burned black and red mass on Tony’s leg turns back into the smooth, lightly tanned skin it was before. Pepper puts her hand on his leg to feel it was no hallucination and then she runs it slowly towards his torso. Everywhere her hand touches new unmarred skin blossoms. She has to keep her tears at bay because she knows her work isn't done yet. When her hand reaches his face, she stops, turns her attention to the charred remains of his ear. From her memory, she rebuilds it and fixes the surrounding skin. Just his hair she can't grow back. Stephen had explained to her, that all she can do is to fix the roots of the hair, but it has to grow back by itself.

After everything is done and Tony looks like himself again, she turns to the arm, but she doesn’t get any further because Stephen behind her collapses on his stool. He drops on the floor like a sack of potatoes.

Christine is on him in a second and checks his vitals.

"Is he...?" Pepper asks fearfully.

"He's fine, just exhausted," the doctor answers. She shoves a pillow under Stephen's head and arranges his limbs into a more comfortable position. After that, she steps to Tony's bed. With practiced ease, she starts examining the Avenger.

Pepper is so tired, she has to fight to keep her eyes open, but when something brushes the back of her hand lightly, she looks up. Warm brown eyes gaze into hers.

"Pep? Did we... am I...?"

"You are alive! We won." She takes Tony's hand into hers and guides it to her face, unable to hold back the tears.

When Dr. Palmer has finished her examination, she says, "We have to run some final tests, but this," she nods at Tony, "is a miracle!"

"That's what you should expect from Tony Stark. He settles for anything less than a miracle." Stephen, who had regained his consciousness, sits with his back propped up on the wall and watches them.

"Doc, that you?" Tony groans. "Next time, you tell me your damn plan, you hear me?"

Pepper sits there; she is laughing and crying and thanking the universe for the second chance she has just gotten.

Christine helps Strange to his feet. He leans on her, and when they pass by Pepper, he puts his hand onto her shoulder. "Sorry, for the arm."

"Don't worry, we'll find a workaround," she reassures him.

He nods sadly. "Listen, if you're ever looking for a new job, I would take you as my apprentice every time."

"I'll think about it."

With a yawn, he moves to the door, Christine by his side. "We'll go down to the cafeteria and send your family up."

Pepper doesn't bother asking how he knows they are there; she just nods.

 

The rest of the day goes by in a blur. It takes her and the doctors in the hospital a while to convince Tony that he has to stay another couple of days to run tests and make sure he is okay, but in the end, he accepts it.

By the time Rhodey brings her and Morgan home, all Pepper wants, is to fall into her bed and sleep for days.

They head to the front door of the cabin and there, abandoned on the porch, sits the suitcase Pepper had brought to the Sanctum. Without comment, without a message, just the suitcase.

With a pang of sadness, she takes it and carries it inside the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that was a ride...  
> Surprised myself with this one.  
> But I enjoyed it because touch-starved Stephen is one of my favorite tropes. 😉  
> We have Tony back, yay!  
> Also: Describing magic is hard.  
>   
> 


	5. The Time To Be Greedy (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is getting longer than I planned initially, so I decided to split it into two parts.

It has been three weeks since Tony woke from the coma, three weeks that have been – despite all setbacks – the happiest in Pepper's life.

She has Tony back, her best friend, her soulmate, the love of her life.

...So why does it feel like something is missing?

 

One evening Tony sits on the couch in the living room, a tablet wedged between his knees, trying to tap something.

"Argh! I'm such an Idiot!"

She puts her book down, looks over at him. "What do you mean?"

"It was a stupid idea to put the stones on my right arm. If I'd used the left one, I would be able to use my right arm now! Didn't think of that, 'cause I didn't expect to survive at all."

He knows what those words do to her. At least he has the decency to look guilty after he said them.

"Sorry, Pep."

Without a blink, she answers, "If you had put the stones on your left hand, your heart – which is on the left side of your body by the way – would probably have stopped. It is possible you would have died instantly."

"You might have a point there," he agrees. With a sigh, he puts the tablet away and rearranges his body until he lies on the couch with is head in her lap.

Smiling, she runs her fingers through his hair. While he's practically purring, she wants to hold him and never let go. The thought of how close she came to losing him still haunts her, but she says nothing. She doesn't want him to feel guilty.

"Pep?"

"Yes?"

"I'm gonna go to Wakanda for some days."

Her movements stop.

"Shuri offered me to help with the arm, and I thought why not? She has more experience in that department then I have. You know, with the arm she invented for Barnes and so on..."

"Sounds good." She pauses, thinking. "Yeah, you should go." She can't keep the trembling out of her voice. On the one hand, she doesn't want to be clingy – on the other hand, the thought of him being away for more than a couple of hours gives her anxiety.

He seems to notice. "Why don't you take Morgan and come with me? I'm pretty sure T'Challa's invitation extends to you as well."

It would be easy to accept his offer and go with him, but she knows for certain, if she doesn't let him do this on his own, it will be even harder to let him go later.

It's not that she doesn't trust him – she simply doesn't trust the world around them.

The fear he might vanish someday is irrational, but knowing about this irrationality does nothing to diminish it. Feelings are not logical, after all.

"No, it's fine. I have a crammed schedule for the next days, and you'll have no time for me anyways when you and Shuri are working. You should go without us."

"You sure?"

When she answers, she aims for a light and carefree tone, but it sounds fake. "Don't worry about me. I'll be to busy even to miss you!"

He sits up to look at her properly. "You know you can talk to me about anything. Whatever it is, I'm there for you." With his one arm, he hugs her as close as possible. "You've been my rock for so long. This time, let me do this for you."

His words are the final straw, and she isn't able to hold back her tears any longer. "You are the one who was practically dead, so why am I the one with the anxiety? That's not fair!"

"No, it's not fair, but give this some time. Isn't that what they say? That time's a healer?"

"Tony..."

"Yes, I know, my motivational speeches can't hold a candle to Cap's."

He tilts his head slightly, narrows his eyes and grins this lopsided grin that he reserves for times when he feels a bit mischievous. "Got an idea."

Excited, he jumps to his feet and takes her hand. "Come on, we put on our armors and go for a fly. Just for fun."

"No! I'm not leaving Morgan alone with no one else in the house!"

"But she's sleeping, and we'd stay close. F.R.I.D.A.Y. can notify us, when she wakes up. F.R.I.D.A.Y., activate baby-monitor-protocol!" He purses his lips, smiling. Slowly he leans in, to whisper in her ear "What do you say? Just one or two laps around the lake. To see who can go faster. And if Morgan wakes up, we're back in a minute."

"Can you even fly without..." She strokes his shoulder, where the arm is missing.

"Don't worry. F.R.I.D.A.Y. will help me."

Eventually, she agrees. They suit up and start to chase each other around the lake. It has been years since Pepper felt this alive. When they finally return to the cabin, they retreat to the bedroom and make slow, life assuring love until the sun comes up outside.

 

 

Two days later – Tony is still in Wakanda – Pepper makes a decision: She asks Happy to drive Morgan and her to Greenwich Village.

Morgan looks out of the car window before she tunes to Pepper. "Mommy, what are we doing here?"

"We're visiting the friend who helped daddy." Pepper takes the hand of her daughter and exits the car.

"Hey! What about me? I'm not gonna wait here in the car!" Happy yells.

Pepper sighs. "Then why don't you come with us?"

"Into the lair of the wizard? What if he jinxes me?"

"Why would he do that, Happy?"

"To get me out of the way and do unspeakable things to you!"

Pepper stares at him like this one time when he revealed he had been carrying around Tony's engagement ring for nine years. She says nothing, shakes her head and leaves him behind.

When they ring the doorbell, it's not Strange who opens, but Wong.

With a big smile, he greets them. "Pepper! How exceedingly nice to see you!"

Although she's pleasantly surprised by Wong's gushing greetings, it doesn't fit the usually stoic demeanor of the librarian.

"Wong, what happened?"

"Nothing. I'm happy to meet another living person I can talk to, that's all."

That alarms her. "What's wrong with Stephen?"

"This spell... it took a massive toll on him. He's been more or less unconscious in the last three weeks."

"Can I see him?"

Wong nods and mumbles, "upstairs."

Pepper asks Morgan and Happy to wait for her. While climbing up the stairs, she can hear Wong ask, "Who wants hot chocolate?"

Uneasily, Pepper passes by the beautiful circular window on the top floor. When she heads to the corridor where Stephen's bedroom is located, the Cloak of Levitation shoots from a corner and wraps itself around her shoulders. It strokes her cheeks with its collar. Pepper can feel how tense and worried the magical artifact is.

Now, that she isn't alone anymore, it is easier for her to move forward and knock on the door. After she gets no answer, she knocks a second time. Still no response. She already wants to go back downstairs, when the Cloak detaches itself from her. Quickly, it opens the door surprisingly skillful given the fact that it has no hands. It waves to follow her and vanishes through the door.

Pepper follows after a moment of hesitation. The air inside the room is stale, and the curtains on the window are drawn shut. On the bed lies, under a big pile of blankets, Stephen Strange.

The Cloak nudges the sorcerer tenderly with one of its corners.

Groaning, he awakes. "I told you not to wake me again! How often do I..." Then he recognizes Pepper. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Taken aback by his rudeness, she answers, "I thought it would be a nice idea to look after a friend, but right now, I don't know why I bothered!"

She turns to leave, but he calls weakly after her. "Pepper! Please, I'm sorry. Don't go."

When he sits up, she can see how much energy it costs him to perform even a simple task like this.

"You look like shit," she observes.

He runs his hand over his unshaven chin. "Thank you, what a lovely thing to say."

She doesn't respond to that. Instead, she asks him, "You knew this would happen, right?" With a vague gesture, she points in his direction.

"I anticipated it to a certain degree. What I didn't factor in, however, is how much energy I already had spent to keep Tony alive in the week it took you to learn the spell – and of course the other two months until I found the spell in question."

"Oh."

"Don't worry. It might take some time, but I will make a full recovery in the end."

Sighing, she sits down on the edge of his bed.

"You don't look so great yourself, if I may say so."

"I can't sleep," she confesses.

"And why is that?"

"I'm afraid I wake up one morning just to realize he's been dead all along, and the last five weeks have just been a dream."

There's no need for her to say Tony's name; they know both precisely who she is talking about.

"I know the feeling." Stephen shuffles around until he sits with his back leaning on the headboard. He closes his eyes and breaths slowly.

"Are you in pain?"

"Not more than usual."

"And what exactly does that mean?"

"That means I can cope with it."

She scoots closer to him and puts her hand on his knee.

If he weren't so tired, he would look confused. "Wait, when did we become friends? I thought you hated me."

She hesitates, looks down at her hands. "You saved Tony's life. Of course you are my friend."

"No. That's not the reason. This hug on the roof, that was previously." His gaze follows hers, and he puts his hand on hers, and a wary smile flickers across his face. "You can tell me; I am your friend."

It takes a long while until she finally answers. "Do you remember the second day we practiced the healing spell? When you connected us, to guide me and give me your energy, you seem to have given me more, than you intended."

"What do you mean?"

"Fourteen million possible futures. I've seen them – or some of them... and I felt what you felt. All those desperate attempts to save both Tony and the universe. But you only ever managed to salvage one of them, no matter how hard you tried, no matter what you sacrificed yourself."

His face falls in terror. "Oh my god... I didn't want to... you should never have to see that. I am so sorry." He buries his face in his hands and starts crying.

Pepper crawls close to him. Determined, she pulls him into a tight embrace. "It's okay, Stephen. It wasn't your fault."

She's not sure he hears her, because he's mumbling "I'm sorry," over and over. It takes minutes until his heart-wrenching sobs die down.

When he eventually pulls away from her, he seems to be so ashamed that he doesn't dare to look her in the eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm so very tired, that makes me sometimes a bit overemotional." Embarrassed, he rubs the back of his neck.

"Don't worry, I am married to Tony Stark and have a four-year-old daughter. I'm used to people having a meltdown every now and then," she jokes. Then in a more serious tone, she continues, "There's nothing for you to be sorry about, Stephen." She will repeat these words until he believes them finally. Gently, she grabs his chin and tilts it up, so he has to look at her. "It was an accident. You didn't mean to do that. Of course, it is no fun to see Tony and Peter, and you die again and again, but those were mere possibilities that thanks to your actions never occurred. Not only that, you chose the only timeline where Morgan existed! You have no idea how grateful I am for that." Her smile grows soft, as she thinks about all the precious little moments she had with Morgan and Tony in the last five years.

"How could I have decided any other way?" With tear-filled eyes, he looks at her. "She's the perfect combination of you and Tony."

"Do you want to meet her?"

"Is she... here with you?"

Pepper nods. "She's downstairs with Wong and Happy in the kitchen, drinking hot chocolate."

"Another time, maybe. I'm gonna lay down now. I'm feeling dizzy."

"Wait, Wong said you have slept nearly all the time, since the hospital. That was three weeks ago! When did you last eat?"

"Dunno, what day is today?"

"Tuesday."

He nods. "Okay... and what month?"

"Oh my God, Stephen! Come on, we're going down to the kitchen, and you are going to eat!"

With the help of the Cloak, she half carries, and half drags Stephen downstairs. When they enter the kitchen, Morgan sits with Wong and Happy at the table. They play some card game with glowing cards that hover a couple of inches over the table top.

"Mommy, look! Magic cards just like in Harry Potter!" The little girl shouts excited.

"That's great, honey. Who's winning?"

"Happy, because he cheats again," she answers. Then she sees Stephen. "Mommy, who is that?"

"That is the friend I told you about – the one who saved daddy."

Unprompted, Morgan gets up, walks in front of Stephen and hugs his legs. "Thank you. I would have missed my daddy very much."

Tears well up in the eyes of the sorcerer again, but he does his best to keep it together. "You're welcome. Honestly, I've done it because I'm selfish. I would have missed him, too."

She offers him her cards. "Wanna play with us?"

Almost reverently, he accepts them. "I would like that very much."

Together they sit down at the table.

Wong gets Stephen a big bowl of something that looks like porridge and mouths a "Thank you" in Pepper's direction when the other sorcerer starts eating.

 

 

On the day after Tony's return from Wakanda, Pepper and Tony sit on the porch of their cabin. Morgan is seated on Tony's lap, inspecting his new arm, when Pepper states casually, "I've invited some friends over for dinner tomorrow, to celebrate your 'rebirth.'"

Grinning, he wiggles his fingers and lays his artificial hand into the tiny one of his daughter, who starts palpate it in awe.

"Oh, nice. Who did you invite?"

"The usual... Rhodey, Peter and May, Happy... Strange and Wong."

He looks up. "Why Strange and Wong?"

"Why not? They saved your life."

"But Strange–"

"There was no other way."

"Yeah, _he_ says that, but I don't believe it."

"I don't need to _believe_ ; I _know_ it's true." She looks down at her hands. "He showed me – that was an accident and he didn't mean to – but I've seen those fourteen million possible outcomes. This _was_ the only way."

"So, you're saying I should give him a chance?"

"Yes, he deserves it. Also, I'm absolutely sure that you'll like Stephen once you get to know him better."

With his most adorable smile, he leans in and kisses her. "I'm not convinced, but I trust you."

 

To Tony's surprise, it turns out she was right. The evening has been delightful so far, and somehow Tony had ended up chatting alone with Stephen, while Wong entertains the others with a magic trick. Something with fireworks or whatnot, Tony hadn't paid attention.

"So, a new arm. Impressive!" says Stephen in an awkward attempt to make small talk.

"Yeah, but it's just an interim solution. The fine motor skills of the thing are garbage! It's more constructed for punching things very hard. Makes you appreciate what you had before."

Stephen holds up his shaking hands. "You tell me."

"You seem to get through life without problems. What's your secret?"

"Magic."

"Nah, that won't do for me, thanks. Any other tips?" He takes a sip of his coke.

"No buttons, no shoelaces, no zippers! Velcro is your friend."

"That's profound, thank you, Doc."

Stephen shrugs. " _You_ asked."

They stare at each other deadly serious before they're bursting into laughter.

"Daddy, daddy, daddy! I want to learn magic, too!" Morgan runs to them and crawls into Tony's lap. "Wong can make fireworks with his hands and flowers made of fire, and I want to learn that, too."

"I don't know if the sorcerers have enough time to teach you," Tony remarks.

Stephen objects. "Kamar-Taj is always taking recruits."

"Yes, but I'm certain you have a minimum age for your recruits, right?"

It takes a second before Stephen gets what Tony wants from him. "Oh, yes, of course. First, you have to finish high school. Sorry, Morgan." He pats her shoulder. "But then you are free to join us if you still want it."

"Great! I'm gonna tell mom!" Fast like a rabbit, she hops from her father's legs and runs to the others.

"That was quick thinking and an excellent lie," compliments Tony.

"That wasn't a lie. Morgan will be very welcome at Kamar-Taj once she's old enough. I firmly believe you Starks have what it takes to be great sorcerers, even you."

"I'm unsure about that. I am a man of science."

"So was I. Once you made the first step and accepted magic as real, the mystic arts are just like any other subject you can study. All it takes is dedication and time to practice."

"I'll never be as good as you."

"Tony, nobody expects that. I have thousands of years of experience."

Tony gapes at him. "My god, how old are you?"

"That's complicated. I was born in 1976, but I have lived for more than ten thousand years. ...or something along the line. Frankly, I lost count."

"How?"

"Time stone."

"Okay, apparently, I wasn't making myself clear enough, so let me rephrase my question: How?"

With a shrug Stephen starts to explain, "You live some time, something happens. You use the stone to reverse time, you do it all over again, but this time you do it differently. In the end, you are the only one who remembers the things that never happened."

"This is how you 'looked' into the future?"

The doctor nods.

"...and it still works if you die in one of the loops?"

Another nod.

"How often did you die, Doc?"

"Millions of times."

Tony stares at him. The look in his eyes is unreadable, but eventually, he gets up, opens a cabinet next to their armchairs, and pours two drinks. As he sits down again, he hands one to Stephen. With one big gulp, Tony empties his glass, while the doctor watches him slightly amused.

"Listen, Doc. My expertise for dying is somewhat limited, given that I was only once nearly really dead, but how in the world did you manage not to go completely insane?"

In a casual tone of voice, Stephen answers, "After the first couple of thousand deaths, you get used to it."

"Is this your way of telling me you don't wanna talk about it?"

"Yes. Maybe that is what it is."

The rest of the night, Tony tries to stay off critical topics, so he starts talking about music and finds himself fascinated by the encyclopedic knowledge the doctor has on the subject.

 

 

In the following weeks, Stephen Strange becomes a regular guest in the home of the Starks. In the beginning, they invite him alongside others – movie night with Peter, barbecue with Happy and Wong – but one day, five months after Tony's 'resurrection', they ask Stephen for the first time to come over alone.

It's a pleasant evening with fondue and Tony's special homemade berry ice cream afterward. The engineer had turned out to be a great cook, which surprised nobody more than himself.

"That's better than 'Stark Raving Hazelnuts,' right?" Tony asks proudly.

"Yes, it is, indeed!" replies Stephen, smiling into his dessert.

"I picked the berries from our garden," Morgan added equally proudly.

"They were perfect, honey!" Pepper agrees.

After finishing her dessert, Morgan starts getting fidgety. "Can I go now and play with Cloakie?"

Everyone looks at Stephen, but he holds his hands defensively in the air. "Ask Cloakie. I don't decide on its behalf."

But that isn't necessary: the Cloak swoops down to Morgan's shoulders and lifts the squealing girl into the air. Together, they float over to the sofa.

After Stephen helped Pepper with the dishes, they return to the living room, where Tony and Morgan ride Cloakie like a magic carpet.

Stephen starts laughing. "Look at this millennia-old magical artifact, all sublime and powerful."

Pepper takes his hand and puts her head on his shoulder. "It seems to have fun. How about you?"

It takes him a moment until he answers. "Yes, thank you."

They sit down and talk. After a while, Tony joins them.

When it's time for Morgan to go to bed, she begs, "Can Stephen read me a story, please?"

"Why do you want Stephen?" Tony asks, sounding a bit hurt. Usually, it is his part to bring her to bed. "What's wrong with me reading?"

"He can do better voices," the little girl explains.

"Does he?" Tony inquires.

"Yes! It is like he is fifty different people!"

"In this case, he should read to you," Tony affirms, nodding.

That catches the sorcerer off guard. "I'm not sure that would be appropriate."

"Then why don't you do it together?" Pepper suggests.

Tony's smile would be able to eclipse the sun.

In the end, the two of them perform a dramatic reading of "Winnie the Pooh" the likes of which the world has never seen.

Pepper watches them from the door of Morgan's bedroom, thinking she could get used to this.


	6. The Time To Be Greedy (Part 2)

Gradually, Pepper's nightmares become less frequent. The more time passes, the more the wretched feeling she could lose Tony at any moment fades. It never disappears, but when she sits in the living room of their home with him at her side, surrounded by family and friends, she almost feels like she did before the battle at the Avengers Compound.

Now, on the first anniversary of their victory against Thanos, they celebrate the fact that Tony Stark is alive, and the universe isn't destroyed.

Everyone is there in the big hall of the newly rebuild Avengers Compound: the New Avengers, the surviving members of the original Avengers, a delegation from Wakanda, high ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, several reporters and camera teams of news stations from all around the world, celebrities, wealthy industrialists and businessmen, even some senators and the President of the United States himself.

... and in the middle of all this hustle and bustle is Tony Stark, bright like a star, dressed to the nines, a drink in his hand, casually chatting with the most influential people of the country.

Stephen stands at the bar with Pepper and watches him from a distance. Annoyed, he tugs at his uncomfortably constricting bow tie. Hard to believe that there had been times when he had enjoyed gatherings like this. "Look at him. He is born for this, right?"

Pepper nods, her eyes firmly on Tony.

"How is he?"

"He is better than ever. I think he was as ready to die as one can be. That he is still alive, is just an added bonus for him."

"Good to hear." He turns toward her. "And how are you?"

She smiles at him. "Getting better. Still not there, but definitely getting better."

"Good."

"What about you, Stephen?"

"It is not easy to settle back into this old life after nearly seven millennia, but you are a tremendous help."

"You're welcome." She puts her arm around his waist and pulls him closer. When he lays his arm around her shoulder in return, it only feels natural.

Grinning like idiots, they look over to Tony, who just spotted them in the crowd.

He waves at them, excuses himself to the person he is talking to and strolls towards them with a big, shining smile.

"Well, if that ain't my two favorite people in this room," he says, but after a moment he adds, "Don't tell Rhodey!"

"I think I saw him leave with Danvers half an hour ago, so you're probably safe," Stephen tells him.

Tony beams at him and starts to adjust the doctor's tie. "You look absolutely stunning, Doc."

Stephen takes Tony's hands and pulls them gently away from the tie.

Surprised, how real Tony's new arm feels, he strokes it. Tonight is the first time Stephen sees this particular model, that indeed looks and feels like a genuine human limb. Only the blue glow of the miniature arc reactor on the back of Tony's hand gives its artificialness away.

"Mr. Stark... are you _flirting_ with me?" Stephen's voice drops extra deep. "In front of your wife?"

"Says the man who stands here hugging my wife in front of the whole world."

"Hey! _The wife_ would prefer it if you two idiots stopped talking about her like she's a piece of furniture!" says Pepper and slaps Tony's chest playfully.

Stephen lets go of Tony's left arm, but he keeps inspecting the right one.

"Tony, that feels incredibly real – the skin texture, the temperature – it even has a pulse!"

"Do you wanna know the best thing about it, Doc?"

Questioning, Stephen glances at him.

"For me, it feels real, too!"

"You have sensations? In an artificial arm?" Stephen asks excitedly.

"Yep." Tony ghosts with the tips of his fingers over the scars on Stephen's hands. "Bit different from the natural one, but I think I will get used to it."

"I'm very happy for you. You have to tell me later how it works – I want to know everything about how you were able to integrate the sensory output of it into your neural system and how you were able to bypass the damaged nerves in your shoulder and... what?"

Tony has started laughing. "Nothing, I enjoy your enthusiasm."

"Well, it's my thing, you know – how did you phrase it? Neuro stuff meets rabbit from the hat? And in this case, the neuro stuff is groundbreakingly exciting."

"Yes. Think about how many people we can help once we go into serial production!"

Only now Stephen realizes he is still holding Tony's hand and drops it hastily.

Pepper says nothing. She just smiles this odd little smile that Stephen doesn't know how to interpret.

"Change of subject; Do you have any plans on Saturday, Doc?"

"I don't know. I guess I don't have any plans?"

"Great! Then you have now. You're coming to us then, 'cause I'm are gonna celebrate my first rebirthday."

"Rebirthday?"

Pepper shrugs and looks at Tony. "Told you that sounds stupid."

Tony ignores her. "I'm entitled to celebrate the day I returned from being nearly dead. If Jesus is allowed to do that, so am I."

"You're comparing yourself to Jesus now?"

"I may not be the son of god, but to be fair, I saved the whole universe!"

Stephen rolls his eyes, but he replies grinning, "How can I argue with that?"

"You can't. Now tell me you'll be there."

 

 

Pepper is relieved that the party in honor of Tony's 'rebirth' does not turn out to be the act of state she feared it would. Instead, Tony and Happy organized a garden party for their friends at the cabin.

Happy, who had given up his job in the security business three years prior to open his own restaurant, is preparing the catering for the day, while Pepper and Morgan decorate the garden with flower garlands and Tiki torches.

In front of the porch, Tony is building a makeshift bar, where he can welcome his guests and provide them with drinks at the same time.

When the first few of them arrive, Pepper mingles with the guests.

Scott Lang and the Pyms are the first ones to show up. Tony invited them too because he had decided to set aside the feud between Pyms and Starks in the hope of collaboration in the future.

Shuri arrives from Wakanda. "My brother sends his apologies, there are important affairs of state he has to tend to."

Tony isn't disappointed about this. The only reason he invited him in the first place was that Pepper told him it would be rude to ask the princess to come and leave out the king, who was a member of the Avengers.

Shuri is accompanied by Okoye and Helen Cho, who is currently working with the princess in Wakanda on the prothesis-project they started with Tony.

Stephen and Wong appear shortly after via portal from N.Y.C., bringing along Peter Parker, his aunt, and two of Peter's friends, who look absolutely overwhelmed by their first trip with magic.

Minutes later, Rhodey lands in style with his War Machine armor, followed by a stunning looking Carol Danvers, who could eclipse the sun.

Bruce Banner had taken on the task to pick up Harley Keener and Steve Rogers, and when Clint arrives with the rest of the Bartons, Morgan finally has some company too.

The party is already in full swing when a space ship lands on the field next to the lake. Of course Tony had invited Nebula and Rocket too. Pepper had grown to like the blue cyborg assassin and the not-raccoon, but she could have done without Peter Quill because that guy is an annoying idiot. At least Thor was with them.

"I am Groot."

She hadn't noticed the tree person stepping beside her.

"Hello, Groot. Rocket told me a lot about you. It is nice to meet you in person finally."

"I am Groot."

"I am Pepper," Pepper replies awkwardly.

"He says he likes your dress." Rocket joins them, grinning at her.

Surprised, Pepper looks down at the flower pattern of her summer dress. "Oh! Thank you."

"I am Groot." Groot lets a flower grow on his arm. He plucks it, to hand it to her. It looks exactly like the ones on her dress.

"Wow... that is... thank you!" With a smile, she puts it behind her ear.

The rest of the day flies by in the blink of the eye. Pepper is happy to be surrounded by so many people she likes and more importantly, people who genuinely like Tony. It is such a contrast to the formal gala earlier this week where everyone just wanted to profile themselves by meeting the savior of the universe.

This is a gathering of friends to celebrate the lives of every one of them.

"Nat really would have loved this," Bruce said, holding a stick with marshmallows over the newly lit campfire.

"I'd like to believe that if there is something like an afterlife, she sits there and smiles at us," Clint muses.

"Sure, she does." Tony puts his arm around Pepper's shoulder.

After sunset, the guests depart gradually until only Stephen is left.

The Guardians have retreated to their ship, and Wong had portaled the others home.

"I think it would be best if you stayed here for the night," Wong had said to a slightly drunk Stephen.

"But-"

"No, Stephen. It's no problem – we have a guest room. You'll sleep here tonight," Pepper ordered.

They sit around the fire for a while, talk and joke, but Pepper doesn't like how much Stephen and Tony are drinking.

"Don't you think you had enough already?" she asks, when Tony gets up to fetch more beer.

He shrugs and sits back down. Stephen, on the other hand, taps his empty bottle with his finger, after which it refills magically. The two men giggle like schoolchildren.

Pepper shakes her head and decides to put the already half-asleep Morgan to bed.

When she returns, she finds Tony and Stephen in front of the fire, making out.

Stephen clings to Tony as if his life depended on it. Between passionate kisses, he sighs, "I love you so much," repeatedly.

When Pepper approaches them and clears her throat to get herself noticed, they stare at her like deer in the headlight. The sight would amuse her if she weren't so angry.

"What is going on here?"

"Pep, I can explain!"

"I'm all ears, Tony." She crosses her arms in front of her chest.

But Tony doesn't get the chance to explain himself, because Stephen gets up and steps away from him so hastily, he topples backward again.

"I'm so sorry." Sitting on the ground, he looks from Pepper to Tony and back. "I forgot which timeline I'm in!" Tears well up in his eyes. "I shouldn't have... I'm so sorry!"

He pulls out his sling ring and is gone before Pepper has the time to react.

Pepper glares at Tony, who sits there, pale and in shock. She doesn't want to hear his excuses.

"You're going to sleep on the couch tonight!"

"But-"

"No! I'm not debating this right now, because I'm too angry and you're too drunk!"

"Pep..."

"Don't forget to extinguish the fire before you go back to the house!"

Without waiting for his response, she leaves him behind.

 

It takes Pepper the whole night to dissect and examine her feelings. Why is she so angry? It is hardly the first time she saw Tony and Stephen kissing – there had been plenty of that in Stephen's memories, and up to now, she had never been jealous because of that.

 _No_ , she thinks, _this is different_.

Because this is the first time, they did it while she was around.

She doesn't dislike the two of them being together – on the contrary, she loves seeing them finally united – no; Pepper is angry because she is left out.

The realization comes as a shock for her.

_I'm in love with both of them!_

When Pepper finally dozes off into restless sleep, she dreams of Tony and Stephen, how she is trying to get to them, but she can never run fast enough to reach them.

 

In the morning, Pepper is preparing breakfast for Morgan, Nebula, and Rocket, when Tony enters the kitchen. It looks like he has the hangover from hell and Pepper can't help but notice he clearly isn't as young as he was in his wild days.

She greets him with a stiff "Morning" and wards him off when he tries kissing her on the cheek.

"Go, brush your teeth! Your breath stinks."

"Are we gonna talk about it?"

Pepper ignores him and turns to Nebula and Rocket. "Could you please take Morgan with you for half an hour or so? You could show her your spaceship. She's never seen one before."

"Don't know – ship like this is not exactly a safe environment for a little girl," Rocket states.

"I trust you two to take care she doesn't get hurt."

"I'll protect her with my life!" is all Nebula answers as she takes Morgan's hand in hers and leaves the room.

Pepper knows that in Nebula's case, these are no empty words, and as frightening the thought is, it is also oddly comforting.

When they are alone in the kitchen, Pepper sits down at the table. She crosses her arms in front of her chest and glares at Tony.

"Do you love him?" She doesn't see the point in beating around the bush.

"No!" Tony's answer comes too fast and far too insistent that she would believe it. He seems to notice because a sharp look from her is all it takes for him to cave in. "Even if I loved him, that doesn't mean anything! I would never risk what we have for some random wizard!"

"He's not some _random wizard_! He saved your life! He is our friend!"

"Wait! Why are you sticking up for him? Isn't that kinda counterproductive in our situation?"

She doesn't respond to that. Instead, she's staring off into space. "I should have known this would happen. I've seen millions of times how easily you fall in love with Stephen Strange." She huffs a joyless laugh.

"Pep, please!" He sounds desperate. "Do you really think I would throw away what we built together in the last two decades, just because of _him_?" He gets on his knees in front of her.

"He's in love with you, too. Did you know that?"

"What?"

"He's in love with you."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it is not my business to tell you the secrets of other people."

"Oh." He lays his head on her knee. "Listen, I mean it when I say this doesn't have to change anything. I can ignore what I feel for him. I love _you_! You are all I ever wanted. More than that! You are far more important to me than some fling with Stephen Strange!"

She starts stroking with her fingers through his hair. "Yes, maybe, but that wouldn't be fair – neither to him nor to us."

He looks up at her. "I don't understand."

"There is something he told me when you were still in the coma, and I didn't understand it until now. He said he had never been jealous of us because he loved how much you love me and had still so much love for him left. I see now what he meant – you are the kind of person who has so much love to give that it is more than enough for two people. Do you understand, Tony? It's okay. This thing – that's not a competition." She continues to run her fingers over his scalp. Then after a moment, she says, "I love him too."

"Wait! You do?"

She nods.

"So, what are we gonna do now?"

With her thumb, she traces the line of his cheekbone. "We could sit here and freak out... or we tell him and see where it goes."

"Three people together? Bit unconventional, don't you think?" he jokes.

"Tony, you've been called many things. 'Conventional' isn't one of them."

 

 

In the afternoon, they drop off Morgan at Happy's restaurant.

"Thank you, Happy. We appreciate you could make the time on such short notice."

"Is it something serious?" Happy asks, concerned.

"No, we just... we have to talk about something with a friend, and..." Tony starts.

"We are going to tell Stephen what we feel for him," Pepper explains calmly.

The reaction they get from Happy is not what they expected, at all. "You mean you're finally telling Strange you love him?" He pauses. "Both of you?"

Tony stares at him in shock, but Pepper nods.

"Thank god! The poor man wanders through the Sanctum like a kicked puppy after being abandoned on the side of a freeway."

"And how do you know that?" asks Pepper.

"Wong's my friend. He lives with Strange, and I visit them every once in a while."

"Wong's your friend? You do have friends outside of us?" Tony points between him and Pepper back and forth. He sounds surprised. "When did that happen?"

"Yeah, Wong's my friend, Tony. The world doesn't always revolve around the great Tony Stark!"

Pepper sighs. "Can we do this another time, please? We have to go now." Pepper pulls Tony to the door. "Again, thank you for looking after Morgan." She cowers down at Morgans side and kisses her daughter. "Take care of Uncle Happy, will you?"

The little girl nods.

"Good, we'll be back tomorrow."

Tony hugs her too, and they turn to leave when Morgan asks, "Can Stephen be my daddy too?"

"Would you like that?"

"Yes! He can teach me magic, so I can protect you when the big purple monster comes back."

Pepper's heart hurts at those words. "The big purple monster will never come back. Daddy took care of that."

"Yes, that one, but there could be another one, you don't know that."

"...and you want to protect us?"

Morgan nods.

"Good."

Pepper already fears the day when this child that is so much like her father will decide to follow in his footsteps, but right now, she has a different problem to solve.

 

 

When they arrive at the Sanctum Sanctorum, it is, for a change, Stephen himself who lets them in.

He looks absolutely horrible: It is clear that he also didn't sleep last night. On top of that, he seems to be as hungover as Tony is.

"Honestly, I didn't expect you here so soon," is all he says while he leads them into the sitting room. It's the official one, reserved for clients, counseling with other masters, and formal meetings.

He sits down in his armchair by the fireplace and gestures towards the sofa on the other wall.

"Please, take a seat."

He has put on this neutral, cold mask he uses to hide his feelings.

Pepper hates it.

Refusing to sit down, she asks him, "Why do you think we are here?"

He looks up at her and smiles. It is a stiff and unnatural expression, that betrays the storm of emotion that rages inside of him.

"I think you are many things, Pepper, but I didn't expect you to be cruel."

"Please..."

"You really want me to spell it out loud, do you? As if the humiliation that you came here to tell me that you want to put an end to our friendship wasn't enough!" When he stands up in front of her, there is something cold and dangerous in his eyes.

Tony, who had remained in the back until now, steps beside Pepper, taking her hand in his and facing the sorcerer defiantly.

Their display of closeness breaks Stephen's resolve. The spark of cold raging anger in his eyes vanishes instantly.

"I think it would be better if you go now. I cannot imagine there is anything left we needed to talk about." His voice sounds small, and even if he tries his hardest not to show weakness, he looks so lost.

Tony grabs Pepper even harder, so she can feel him shaking with frustrated energy.

"You believe we are here to end our friendship?" Pepper asks sad.

"Why else would you be here?"

"You're an idiot, Strange," when Tony speaks for the first time since they arrived, he sounds bitter. "Pepper told me you're in love with me! Is this true?"

Stephen nods, eyes trained at the floor.

"Why didn't you tell _me_?"

Now Stephen looks up, his inner turmoil clear on display. "What difference would that have made, except ending our friendship even sooner? I knew it wouldn't last forever, that it would turn awkward once you found out, so I decided to be greedy and take as much of it as I could. Even if–"

"Shut up, Doc! Just shut up!" Tony let go of Pepper's hand to pull the surprised Stephen into a bone-crushing hug. "I love you too, you stupid idiot!"

"But..." Uncertain, Stephen glances at Pepper.

Tony lets go of him, his eyes following Stephen's gaze.

"Oh, for fuck's sake! I'm so done!" Tony's unexpected outburst lets Stephen and Pepper flinch slightly. He paces through the room, throws his arms in the air. "I'm done with people telling me what I can or can't have! I'm done with compromises! Not this time! I died to protect this stupid universe. It owes me one! I want to have my cake, and want to eat the fucking thing too, 'cause I earned that, don't you think?"

Stephen stares at him, quizzically. "I don't understand. What are you telling me?"

Pepper tries to put Tony's behavior into words, "I think what he means is: You can be greedy. You can have it all, without feeling guilty."

"How? Why?"

Gently, she takes his face in her hands and pulls him in for a kiss. "We both love you and want you to be a part of our family," she whispers into his ear, caressing his cheek.

Stephen doesn't react. He just stands there, blinking.

"What's wrong? What did you do?" a worried Tony demands to know.

"I did nothing! It was just a kiss. I do that all the time with you, and you never freeze like that!"

"Hey, Stephen!" Tony takes his shoulder and shakes him lightly. "Answer me, Strange!"

The sorcerer remains unresponsive.

"You broke him!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Tony. He's not a machine." Turned to Stephen, she tenderly asks, "Stephen, what's going on there in your head?"

"Trying to wake up," Stephen mumbles, "though I appreciate this dream."

"You _are_ awake, Love."

"Love? You mean that?"

She nods.

He looks at her with shiny eyes, a single tear rolling down his cheek. When Tony steps beside Pepper and takes Stephen's hand in his real one, the sorcerer asks in a small voice, "This is real? ...and I can..."

A trembling hand brushes hesitantly over Tony's cheek, while the other remains firmly in Tony's.

When a shy, hopeful smile softens Stephen's features, they both pull him into a tight embrace. It is an awkward position with all three of them, but when Stephen presses a kiss on her forehead, Pepper feels like they won a small victory. She vows to herself that she will do everything she can to make sure that this wonderful man finally believes how much he is wanted in their relationship.

Now that the rush of adrenaline slowly abates, she can feel the exhaustion of a night spent awake seeping back into her body.

A quick look tells her the two men don't fare any better.

"Come on, boys, let's go to bed."

"Isn't that a bit fast?" Tony asks with a cheeky grin.

"To sleep? No, certainly not. ...and let's be honest. None of us is up for anything else at the moment."

Tony shrugs. "True."

Stephen seems to be uncertain about what to do next, but Tony slings his arm around his waist. "Do you have a bed here in this museum of yours, or do we have to sleep on the floor?"

"Upstairs?"

"You should know! You live here!" Tony laughs.

Determinedly, Pepper takes her two men by the hand and leads them upstairs to Stephen's bedroom.

When they reach the door, all three of them pause, until Stephen finally gets up the courage to open it and step inside. Undecidedly what to do next, he stands in the room and watches them as if they were a fata morgana that could vanish anytime.

Pepper gives Tony a look, and he understands her without words. Being a couple as long as they have been, has its perks.

Simultaneously, they approach the sorcerer. They surround him from both sides, one after the other closing the distance to press long desired kisses on Stephen's lips.

"Listen, Doc. If you don't want this, you can tell us. I promise it won't hurt our friendship."

"No! I want this! Please don't go..."

Tony pulls the distraught man into another tight hug, while Pepper rubs his back soothingly.

"It's okay. No one is leaving you, Stephen." Tenderly she tugs Stephen away from Tony and gets to work on opening the belts of the sorcerer's robe. "We can't sleep fully clothed."

When Stephen realizes what she is trying to do, he helps eagerly, until he stands there, wearing only his underpants. Together, Pepper and Tony push him onto the bed, then they start to undress each other in front of Stephen. In between they kiss and caress each other, glimpsing over to Stephen, who seems to enjoy the show. Finally, when they are down to their underwear too, they join Stephen on the bed.

After a bit of shuffling and rearranging, the baffled sorcerer ends up in the middle between the Starks.

Pepper pulls the heavy duvet over the three of them before she snuggles onto Stephen's chest. Tony, who has made a habit of sleeping without his synthetic arm, is lying on Stephen's other side and puts his arm around them.

Stephen in the middle is practically glowing with happiness. He wants to say something, but Pepper stops him. "Not now. Let's sleep first. Tomorrow we have all the time in the world."

With a nod, he closes his eyes. A few seconds later, he is fast asleep. It's the most peaceful rest he had in ten thousand years.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is done - nearly. I'm in love with this 'verse, so I decided to add a small epilogue. It should be done next week.  
> For all who gave me kudos thank you! For all who commented thank you so much, I love you 3000! (and I'm sorry if I didn't answer you. That doesn't mean I didn't appreciate it, I'm just not good with words.)


	7. Epilogue: The Happy Place

One year later:

 

Stephen is woken up by what feels like an earthquake. Lazily he blinks into the bright morning sun to see Morgan jumping on the bed. With a quick motion, he rolls around and buries the giggling girl under a mountain of blankets and sheets."

"Who dares to disturb my slumber?" he asks in his best Smaug voice. (They started reading The Hobbit a week ago.)

"It's me, Pa!"

"Who's _Mepa_?" he asks and tickles her.

She starts to laugh so hard that she can't answer.

When she stops, he pulls her into a tight embrace and rolls the two of them over, until she lies on his stomach.

"Where are your parents?" he asks, while he brushes a strand of hair behind her ear.

"They are in the kitchen. Daddy says they have a surprise for you, but that's a secret."

"Oh, is that so? You really are the best secret keeper that I know."

"Am I?"

"No, just kidding. You are as bad at keeping secrets as Peter is."

That causes her to pout.

"Do not fret. You have other qualities."

"What qualities?"

"You're smart like your daddy and fierce like your mom. You will shape the future."

"Is that a good thing?"

He shrugs. "Who knows – I can't look into the future anymore." With a big yawn, he pulls her into another hug. "...and I honestly think that is a good thing."

 

 

Two hours later a very excited Tony and a grinning Pepper stand with Stephen and Morgan in front of the Sanctum Sanctorum.

"So you wanted to show me... what exactly? My home?" Stephen glances up to see if there is something unusual, but he can't spot a difference. "I honestly can't tell what you want me to look at."

"That is because you are looking at the wrong building!" Tony hooks his arm under Stephen's and leads him around the corner into Sullivan Street.

Expectantly, Stephen looks around, but there also is nothing out of the ordinary. On the other side of the road is a typical building for this neighborhood: It is five stories high, painted in a light shade of reddish brown, with black fire escapes on both sides. On the first floor is a restaurant located, while the levels above house apartments.

Some months ago, Stephen had heard rumors that an insanely rich idiot bought half the block way above value. Some days later, construction works had begun, and nobody in the neighborhood has any clue what the plan of the mysterious new owner is.

Now as Stephen stands here, Pepper and Tony at his side, something clicks in his head.

"That was you!" he accuses Tony, "You are that insanely rich idiot who bought half the block! But why?"

"Happy had problems paying the rent in his old place, so I decided here would be the ideal spot for a new venue."

"You maniac! You really bought half the block that your friend can have his restaurant?"

"No, just the house on the corner and the one behind it." Tony grins. "So, the real property is mine now, that means I get to determine how much rent he has to pay – which is nothing – instead, I get to be the co-owner of his restaurant."

"So, you suddenly wanted to become a restaurateur?"

"Nah, the man just wouldn't accept my offer to provide the space for free, so I'm more of a secret partner."

They cross the street, and Stephen can take a closer look at the restaurant. On big windows state large golden letters 'Happy Place,' and behind those windows, Stephen can spot a cozy dining area with dark furniture and lots of flowers.

"Happy Place?" Stephen asks.

"Yeah! Can you believe it? They messed it up totally! It was supposed to say 'Happy's Palace,' but the Idiots forgot two letters."

Stephen puts his hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Tony, it's not that bad."

"Come, let us show you how it looks inside!" Pepper pulls a bunch of keys from her purse and opens the door.

She leads them through the dining area into the kitchen, fully equipped, with top modern kitchenware.

They only have a quick look, until Pepper ushers them out the back into the staircase.

Stephen is confused. Why are they rushing so fast through the rooms, if Pepper and Tony wanted to show him the restaurant?

Pepper stops in front of a door on the second floor.

"This will be Happy's apartment. This way, he is always close to his restaurant."

With a nod, Stephen acknowledges he heard what she just said. That doesn't mean he understands _why_ they are telling it to him. He likes Happy, no question, but that doesn't mean he has to know where the man is going to live.

"Nice. So Happy will be my new neighbor."

He expects them to show him the apartment, but Morgan takes his hand and pulls him farther upstairs. When they reach the top floor, she storms into the penthouse, a spacious living area with big windows, high ceilings, and an open kitchen. Before he has the time to take in all the new impressions fully, Morgan drags him along again. She leads him into a room that is obviously a child's room: On one wall is the Skyline of New York painted, illuminated with LEDs as windows and street lights. Whoever designed the interior took full advantage of the height of the room, because in the corner is a huge bunk bed half hidden behind the facade of a skyscraper.

Morgan climbs up and motions Stephen to follow. The place is big enough for three people and offers a view over the entire room without being seen instantly.

"What do you think?" she asks.

"It is great. But why a city?"

"First I wanted a castle and horses. But I'm no princess. I am a superhero like my dads, and I have to protect the city!"

Stephen feels tears sting in his eyes, but he tries his best not to show it. She said dads. Plural. He still hasn't come to terms with that.

Pepper and Tony step into the door and look up at them. "Come on, Doc! You're missing the rest of the tour!"

Tony and Pepper show him the rest of the apartment: Three big guest rooms, each with its own bath, the kitchen and the adjacent living room, a beautiful roof terrace and finally a bedroom with a monstrosity of a bed in the middle, big enough for three people, even if one of them is a space-hogger like Tony Stark.

On the floor beneath the penthouse is a roomy, state-of-the-art workshop for Tony, and next to that, a smaller one.

"For Peter. Kid needs a place to work," Tony states, shrugging.

After that, they return to the living room, were Tony throws himself onto the large sofa in front of the fireplace.

"What do you think? Ideal for movie nights with friends."

Stephen nods.

Unceremoniously, Pepper shoves Tony's legs off the furniture.

"No shoes on the new couch!" she says when sits down beside him. Grinning, she pads the empty spot beside her. Stephen accepts this invitation and settles down beside her with Morgan in his lap.

"What is this?" he asks eventually with a gesture meant to encompass the whole apartment.

"We decided we wanted to move back to the city, to be closer to our friends ...and closer to you," Pepper explains.

"Oh!" Stephen is so touched, he doesn't know what to say.

Pepper takes his hand and caresses it with her thumb. "We keep the cabin by the lake, of course, but we know how bad you feel when you leave the Sanctum to spend a night with us. This way, you would be next door in case something happens."

Tony grins. "That's not the only thing: You are co-owner of this building."

"What?" Stephen looks at him in shock.

"Yeah, we asked Jennifer Walters, our lawyer, to come over to take care of the legal stuff – so you'll probably have to sign some papers."

"Tony, I don't think I can accept that."

"Why not? You're part of the family now."

"That leads me to the other things we have to talk about when Jen is coming over." Pepper's tone of voice is all business. "We are changing our last will in your favor. If anything happens to both of us, we want to make sure you'll get full custody of Morgan."

"We don't want you to have to fight a long, useless legal battle in such a case. You'll also inherit a big chunk of Stark Industries, to make sure you'll get by, financially," Tony adds.

"Listen, is this really necessary? I mean, how probable is it, that both of you-"

"Better safe than sorry!" Tony cuts him short. "We just want to make sure financial and legal issues are the least of your problems in case you lose us."

At these words, Stephen has to swallow hard. He really doesn't want to think about such a case. "Thank you."

Subconsciously, he winds his arms a bit tighter around Morgan.

The little girl takes his face in her tiny hands and kisses him on the nose. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you."

With tears in his eyes, he touches his forehead to hers. "I know."

They sit there for a while, simply enjoying each others company and talking about everything and nothing in particular.

After some time, Pepper looks at her watch and proclaims, "We should go home now to pack. The movers will be there in the morning to ship our things over here."

Tony, who had somehow managed to end up between Pepper and Stephen as always, untangles himself from the embrace of his lovers. Sighing, he stands up.

"Daddy? Give me a piggyback ride?" Morgan tugs on the leg of his pants and looks at him with her big, brown eyes.

"No. Nada, out of the question! You're getting too heavy for this, and I'm an old man."

"Please?" Even with the young age of just seven years, Morgan knows precisely what her Bambi-eyes can do when it comes down to her father.

He rolls his eyes. "Okay. Hop on!"

"Yay!" the little girl yells and crawls on his back.

Groaning, he stands up again and trots to the stairs.

"You're not saying anything against that?" Stephen looks after them, amused.

"Why would I? Keeps him in shape." Pepper grins. Suddenly she seems to remember something. "Oh, I almost forgot," she starts to rummage through her handbag, "here are your keys." She hands Stephen a bundle of keys and turns to go.

Stephen stands there, goggling at them for a moment.

The keys to Pepper and Tony's new home. Not only that but also _his_ new home!

"Stephen darling, you're coming?" Pepper calls from the staircase.

"Sure!" Stephen answers. He takes a final look around. It feels like his heart is going to burst with joy and love.

"Happy Place, indeed," he mumbles and closes the door behind himself with a soft smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, look at that! I finished something. 🎉  
> Well, that's a first. *discretely shoves a pile of unfinished fics from the early 2000s under the bed*  
> Can you believe it? When I started writing this, I wanted to do something short - 5,000 words max... yeah... short is apparently not what I do.  
> Well, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing.  
> Perhaps I will return to this AU someday, but after this, I want to finish ["The Strange Tale of the Lost Heart"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15032093/chapters/36189762) first.  
> For now, I leave my DrPepperony family in their new home, all in love and happily surrounded by friends, because they deserve it.  
> With this in mind, I wish you a good night, my dear reader.


	8. Now with cover!

Look! I made a cover for this fic!

Also, I wrote a short continuation. It is planned to be the first of a couple of one-shots, that take place after this.  
It's called "Just a Chat Between Old Friends" and you can find it [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20818748).

 

You can find the full size version on [tumblr](https://gurkenpflaster.tumblr.com/post/188025350093/cover-for-my-drpepperony-fanfic-the-only-way).

Alternative versions of the cover are [here](https://gurkenpflaster.tumblr.com/post/188031154853/alternative-versions-of-my-cover-for-my). (It was hard to decide...)

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like it.  
> If so, please comment. It means the world to me 😘
> 
> Also: Little reminder that English is not my first language. So, if you find errors and mistakes, please feel free to tell me.


End file.
